Back issues of Galva News available online

Thursday

Dec 27, 2012 at 7:40 PMDec 27, 2012 at 7:42 PM

Through the Galva Public Library

Doug Boock

Want to look up an obituary for someone who once lived in the Galva area? Or find a child’s birth announcement, or sports accomplishment at Galva High School. Maybe even who visited who on a Sunday afternoon — when “a good time was had by all” — in social news from Galva News pages of long ago?Now you can, from the comfort of your own home. Or wherever you have Internet access.All free of charge.Thanks to a new service of the Galva Public Library, all issues of Galva newspapers of the past 132 years are now visible over the Internet, on the library’s website, www.library.org.That includes the Galva News and three former newspapers here — Galva Weekly News, The Galva Standard and the Galva Semi-Weekly News.“I’m very excited to say the Galva News online is completely ready and rolled out on our web page,” library directory Melody Heck said, announcing the new offering. “We have our entire collection of microfilm digitized from 1879 to 2011.”It’s indexed, too. That means you can search for specific names, events or other words.To access the data base, go to www.library.org and click on “Galva News Online.”Once there, you can choose the newspaper issue you wish to see, even specifiying months and years. Narrow your search by using the index. Type in a name — even your own — or any word you choose. In milliseconds, pages with those names or words on them will pop onto your screen.“The convenience to our patrons is the biggest plus for this new format,” library director Melody Heck said. “The clunky microfilm reader is replaced by accessing the newspaper online, by more than one user at a time. You may now search via our website any time, day or night.“We felt it was time for a more user-friendly, convenient interface.”